Julia Abigail Fletcher was born on the 6th April 1823 in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Her ancestors included important military figures from the American Revolution and it is believed that she inherited her strong sense of patriotism from them. She was expressing her thoughts in verse from a very early age, sometimes relying on her siblings to write them down, but an aunt expressed dismay to her mother that she should not be allowed to continue doing so. Julia was banned from writing for a while but this did not last too long. Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney was an American poet and teacher of the 19th century who wrote under a number of pseudonyms including “Sadie Sensible” and “Minnie May”. Much of her work was religiously-themed and her words were often set to music and sung as hymns. These were so popular that they could be found in American hymn books for at least fifty years after publication.